Watch Your Shadow
by WiCkEdAvEnGeD
Summary: After moving from place to place all her life, Alickta finds herself in Maxville attending the ever famous Sky High. Despite not wanting to get too attached, she finds herself making friends, and enemies.. but she's not giving in so easily. Strange things start happening. Strange people, and familiar faces with no memories of the past!
1. Yet another cliche story introduction

**I haven't been on here for awhile so give me a chance to get back into the swing of things before getting super critical on me please! I've missed writing on this site and hopefully will be able to keep this going at a steady pace. The rating may change later depending on what ends up happening. I don't own sky high, just my characters. Please review and tell me what you think!**

For as long as I could remember, we had never lived in one place more than a year. How clichéd is that for an introduction? Anyway, my name is Alickta Donavin. I am 15 years old and live with my dad and three brothers. The oldest is Donnie, he's 27 and can work with almost anything mechanical. I'm super jealous of my oldest brother's powers because I love cars and everything about them. He and my other older brother used to take me out to street races back when we lived in Las Vegas a few years back. Speak of the devil, my second oldest brothers name is David. David is 17 and can control and distort different types of metal. Between the two of them they are a street racers dream team. Then there's my youngest and most adorable younger brother, Daniel. But everyone calls him Danny. He's 6 years old and hasn't developed any powers yet, and honestly I am in no rush to see him grow up. I love my little brother. Since our mother disappeared all those years ago, I'm the only girl in the house and his only real female figure. He absolutely adores me too. I think if mom was still here he'd be the definition of the sweet little mommy's boy.

As for me, well I unfortunately had developed my powers. They weren't anywhere near as cool as the rest of my families, excluding Danny. I had the ability to hide. That's right, hide. However my abilities only applied in the shadows, or if it was completely dark. Which, ya know, helped when walking home late at night and such, but still, pretty lame power. Oh well, guess not everybody in the family could get an awesome power. Usually I was pretty content with my ability, today however, I wasn't feeling to super. That would probably be due to the fact that it was my first day starting at sky high. Ah isn't that always the way these super stories go? Anyways so here's where MY so-called "super" story goes, as I said, today was my first day of school. HIGH school. For SUPERS. No pressure right? Just your slightly less than average super teen waiting for the super bus to go to her first day at super school. Yeah enough with the "super" thing, it gets old quick doesn't it?

Well here I am at the average looking bus stop with my older brother who happens to be starting his senior year as I start my sophomore year. Like I said, we never stayed in one place for very long so I didn't expect much from this new place. I was actually pretty sad about moving last time. We lived up in the mountains in Colorado and it was pretty awesome. Great curves for racing, almost always shadowed by mountains, nice cool weather. I had actually made some friends there, and for the first time in years I had started to feel normal. But since my dad had come across better work here in Maxville, as well as realizing that he now had two high school kids with powers that needed work, we were uprooted once again and relocated here and quickly enrolled in the infamous sky high only a few weeks before the first day of class. David was lucky, he knew some of these faces from the last time he was here. He had stayed with my uncle Hector, Hec for short. My uncle runs a mechanic shop on the outskirts of town. He was a retired super, my mom's older brother and my dad's best friend. David had spent over a year with him his freshman year, getting better at controlling his powers and helping Uncle Hec in the shop. I was so very envious. He got to spend over a year in a single place, and now we were going there, all of us.

The bus pulled up at the stop, pulling me away from my reflections. Speaking of, I looked out the window and mine was not at all pleasing. I had picked a seat in the back near my brother and had my headphones in listening to my songs on shuffle, skipping five or six at a time. I shook my head and tried fixing my deshevled shoulder length black hair. Once I realized it was futile I just grabbed my black grey striped beanie out of my backpack and adjusted it so my hair didn't look bad at all. That's the thing about my lucky beanie, no matter how bad a hair day I have, it always seems to make my hair look decent at least. As for the rest of my appearance, I was wearing black and blue striped long sleeves under a black and grey punisher t-shirt with faded dark grey jeans and black and blue checkered vans. I was far from what anyone could consider feminine, but hey! I was raised in a house of all boys. The punisher shirt was actually one of Donnie's but he'd outgrown it and David didn't really want it. It fit me well, and I really liked it. My black and silver messenger bag held my first day of school crap, aka notebook, composition book, spare pens and pencils, batman usb drive and a calculator. The bus flew off the bridge as Enter Sandman by Metallica started playing in my ears. A bunch of kids were screaming their heads off. Thankfully my brother had taken mercy on me and warned me the night before. Right before I tried to go to sleep. Bastard. So I wasn't screaming bloody murder and making a fool out of myself.

We made it to school a few minutes later and I stepped off the bus, dignity still miraculously intact. Nope, spoke too soon. That was before I had slipped and landed on my hands in the grass. No, not slipped, Tripped. Something had tripped me. I watched as a long black and white striped…er.. thing, slithered back to its base. Base being that of a freakishly tall and skinny floppy haired prick with a stupid smirk on his stupidly smug face. Why, oh why couldn't I have my brother's powers and make his own cell phone attack him, yes, Donnie dearest HAD in fact done that to me before. If I had their powers I wouldn't even hesitate to wipe that stupid smirk off his smug face.

My glare must have given away my anger because he simply grinned wider and made his way over. "Sup freshman," he was soon joined by a rather large companion and they loomed over my rather unfortunate 5'3'' form. If they expected me to cower, they would be sorely disappointed. "Since you clearly missed the memo with your bus buddies over there," he motioned to a bunch of flustered students grabbing papers and picking up their belongings. "We're here to collect the $15 new student fee." He stretched his arm out expectedly.

"I'm not a freshman. And if you think you're taking anything from me, I'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed." I responded trying in vain to keep the snark from my voice. I guess it didn't work since he scowled and they pressed closer to me, backs to the sun. I smirked and watched as they created the very shadow I would use to make my escape. I watched invisible and intangible as the confusion settled in on them. I knew my power wouldn't get me into hero class but I was pretty damn excited to be a sidekick. As long as no one knew exactly what my powers were, I could have a world of fun here while it lasted.

The downside to my power, I couldn't actually leave the shadow I hid in quite yet, if I did I sort of became a shadow and that was a bit of a mess because it was hard to change back unless I was in another shadow entirely. So I was stuck following the ever annoying stretchy kid and his pal without them even knowing it. I was supposed to be in the gym going through the "power placement" with the freshies. I had to get out of here, like NOW because I was losing the group quickly.

Finally they passed a rather large shadow by the side of the building and I was able to detach and switch shadows. Unfortunately the bell rang and I was startled into the light just as they passed around the corner. Thankfully I don't think they saw me but just in case they had I didn't waste time darting around the other side and rushing to where I could only assume the gym was.

~_little did she know at the time a striped clad boy was watching her from the corner of the building after telling his friend to meet him at lunch later, he needed some time alone. He wouldn't admit it, but he found the little show from the invisible chick kinda amusing. She was clever, he'd give her that.~_


	2. Past and Present

By the end of my first day of sky high I was exhausted. "Shockingly," I had been placed in sidekick class and zoned out mostly for the remainder of the day. Tomorrow we would be getting our schedules and textbooks. Today we had just spent the whole day in homeroom learning about our new school. My home room teacher was some now freelance sidekick called All American Boy. He told us to just call him Mr. Boy. I liked him, he was pretty dorky but in the funny, and cool way. At least in my opinion.

The bus ride home was uneventful. I stuck in my headphones and looked out the window, daydreaming. When I got off the bus it only took a few minutes to walk around the block to get to my house on the corner. My dad and David were unpacking still and Donnie was working in the garage putting away tools and shelves they had recently put together.

The house itself was pretty nice. We were pretty well off so we could afford to binge on the new place. It was a faded forest green with darker green shudders and gutters and whatnot. It's three stories with a smaller flat roof that gradually slanted down each story. It had a fenced backyard and a decent sized front with a few trees and vines along one side of the house, and a bunch of tangled rose bushes on the side toward the back gate. The front door is a dark brown with a gold knocker.

"Hey I'm home!" I yelled as I opened the door, grabbed a box with my name on it and turned into the hallway to go up the grand staircase that led to the second story, then to a door that looked like a closet but opened to a small room with a spiral staircase in the corner. I climbed to spiral staircase up to a hatch that opened into the third floor. Which, thanks to the guilt of my dad and brothers for uprooting us from my favorite place thus far, I had it all to myself. Then again, Donnie had claimed the basement, Danny was down the hall from dad on the first floor, and David was happy with the second floor to himself, right down the hall from the game room/ lounge. The first floor also contained the kitchen, living room, dining room, and dad's office. The door to the basement/ Donnie's room was right by the door to the garage, thus its appeal to him. The third floor instantly grabbed my attention when I saw the layout, color, which was a shimmery grey/ sliver color, and the second secret closet door. Just like the first, this door had a smaller spiral staircase and a hatch that led to the flat part of the roof. The first few nights we spent in this house I slept out on the roof because I didn't like the emptiness of the whole place. Now it had my bed, dresser, desk, posters and pictures on the walls. It was starting to feel more like my own. Clothes had been scattered out of the huge walk in closet, books had been piled onto one of my tall bookshelves and movies and cds had been stacked on the other. The top shelf of both had picture frames of me and my friends that had been given to me before I moved, as well as pictures of my family and I. One entire wall was made entirely of floor to ceiling windows which allowed the setting sun's gleaming rays to flood into the whole room. I made a mental note to myself to get long curtains soon so that I could have privacy as well as total darkness when I wished.

I flopped down onto my incredibly comfy full sized bed. I had a large black comforter speckled with colors so it looked like space. My sheets were dark blue (occasionally red or purple) and were a mix of cotton and silk. I loved it. My messenger bag was slumped next to my desk and my cell phone started playing "_don't blink, you won't even miss me at all," _ and I shuffled to get it, wondering who the hell was calling and why they picked now of all moments to call. Of course I didn't get to it in time and it was a number I didn't recognize. I huffed and went to go back to my bed with my book when I heard a knock at my hatch.

I stuck my head out and saw Danny. I smiled at his cute little face and ruffled tawny hair. "What's up buddy?" I asked, ruffling his hair some more.

"Daddy said to come get you, got some more boxes." He said, handing me a light weighted one as he said so.

I took it from him and pretended to almost drop it at how heavy it was. "Wow Danny, you sure are strong to have brought it all the way up here for me! Thanks little man!" I said smiling as he puffed out his chest proudly.

I set the box down by my desk and went downstairs with him, stopping to let him on my back for a piggy back ride. I was really happy he was still so small. We got downstairs and crossed David carrying more boxes up to the second floor. "Dad's outside with the rest of your stuff."

I nodded in understanding and ran out the door jumping down the four steps and spinning and swooping with Danny laughing hysterically as I did. I straightened up as I arrived on the curb in front of dad next to the pick-up truck. I bent backwards, thankful I am somewhat flexible as he slid off my back onto the grass. "Sup parental, child #3 reporting for boxes."

"Hey Al," my dad smiled, ruffling my hair. Let me explain, everyone has their own little name for me, but absolutely NO one can call me Al except my dad. It's HIS special name for me. If anyone else tries it sounds wrong and I just glare. "These are the last ones. Go ahead and take 'em to your room. Dinner's at 6 sharp." He took his tool bag out of the back of the truck and started walking toward the 4 car garage soon to be a mini mechanic shop if I knew my family. He threw a bottle of code red mountain dew to Donnie and started putting away his bag before going in to start on dinner.

My dad used to be a pretty famous hero, the iron knight. He could control metals, like my brother, and also had telekinesis. He didn't where spandex, he wore armor that was light as a feather on him but strong as steel. He retired awhile back but still did some hero work here and there which was mostly why we moved around so often. He has light brown hair with flecks of grey starting to show. He wasn't just our dad, he was a friend to each of us. In fact, when I was little he was my absolute best friend. I have fuzzy memories of us as a big happy family. Mom was there, so was uncle Hec, and Danny was just a baby, not even a year old. Of course I still adored him. I remember my parents watching us play in the backyard, my dad playing soccer with my older brothers as I climbed the tallest tree in the yard. Mom was holding Danny and laying on a blanket and uncle Hec was manning the grill.

My mom was beautiful. And I knew she loved my father dearly. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at him. Even when I was little I could tell. She had raven hair that cascaded down her back in black rivers. Her eyes were piercing green, like mine. She had crimson lips and well defined cheekbones. She was pale, but it only increased her beauty. She had a dainty frame but she was lean and athletic, not to be taken lightly in a fight. I once told her she made me think of an elf, the kind from the lord of the rings movies we watched or from the stories she would tell. She knew I meant it as a great compliment and took it as such. I missed her dearly. She disappeared not long after my tenth birthday. No one knew what happened to her. That's what pains me the most.

I took the boxes from dad, handing a light weighted one to Danny who kept asking to help, like the little gentlemen we all were raising him to be. We headed upstairs and I set down my boxes by my desk with the other, Danny copied my actions. I handed Danny a slinky from an open box of random junk and told him to throw it down the main staircase. He grinned and took it, skipping merrily out of my room.

I closed the hatch after him and looked at the clock on my desk. 4:30. I had an hour and a half before dinner. I put a mixed cd in my stereo and Mr. Brightside by the Killers started blasting through the speakers. I spent the next hour unpacking and throwing boxes down the stairs into the little room to take out later. I couldn't see the point of unpacking all our crap if we were just going to repack everything again in a couple months anyway. Nevertheless I unpacked and put away my things pretty effortlessly. I didn't have a ton of stuff since I didn't bother keeping anything unless it had particular significance to me, so my entire third floor bedroom was pretty bare. The large windows let warm rays of sun flood through the entire room.


	3. Usual Routines

**Okay, I know the chapters are pretty short but I'm only just starting out on this story. The more reviews and followers/favorites it gets the longer I'll probably make each chapter. Please review and let me know what you think! feedback is very much appreciated! **

"Al!" my father's voice echoed from all the way down stairs. I looked at the clock, _shit! _6:20, I'd dozed off and was late for dinner. My grumbling stomach wasn't exactly pleased at this either.

I raced downstairs and slid into my chair at the table. My father gave me a look but then started passing around dishes so we could start eating. Dad had made pasta with his special sauce that only he could seem to make. It was one of our whole family's favorite meals and I knew he had made it in honor of our return to school. I took a sip of ice cold water and continued eating quietly. We didn't talk much while we ate, probably because we were all pretty worn out. Soon dad asked us how our first day was and David started telling him about his day while I just mumbled a little and then resumed eating my dinner.

After everyone had finished eating we started cleaning up. Since Dad had cooked, it was our responsibility to clean, house rule. We all had our little chore and it made clean ups pretty easy. Donnie went to the sink to start washing dishes, David dried and put away the dishes since he could easily reach the higher cabinets better than me or Danny. Danny brought in everything from the dining room table and then wiped it off and reset the placemats and everything, while I took all the leftovers to wrap and put away along with anything else that needed to be put back in its place. Since we were all pretty used to our roles, the whole place was nice and clean in less than 15 minutes and we were free to go do whatever.

I went back to my room and grabbed a few papers before I could forget and went downstairs to Dad's study. "Hey Dad?"

He turned in his comfy spinning chair at his computer desk, "Yeah Al?"

"I need you to sign these forms for school." I passed him the papers.

He looked briefly at each one and chuckled occasionally, remembering them from his old high school years. After a few minutes he took a pen out of his desk drawer and signed his name in an elegant fashion I could never quite master, and handed me back the papers. "Good luck Al." he gave a knowing smile before going back to typing on his computer.

I just shrugged and went back upstairs, putting the forms in my bag so as not to forget them. I sat down at my desk chair and opened my laptop and signed in. I checked my email and saw I had already gotten a few from my friends in Colorado asking how I was doing and how they already missed me. I took a few minutes to respond to them, taking a few extra minutes to think on how to respond to Toby.

Toby was one of my good friends in Colorado who I hung out with all the time. We had gotten especially close the past few weeks and I knew if I hadn't moved so far away we probably would have eventually become more than just friends. I'd never really been big on relationships, or emotional stuff in general, but I hadn't been totally opposed to the idea of going out with him. He was a super sweet boy with tawny hair and bright sea-green/blue eyes. He was goofy and always fun to hang out with. His laid back attitude mixed nicely with whatever mood I was in.

I finally settled on a good response and sent the email. I closed my laptop and changed into my jogging clothes, throwing my hair into a messy ponytail. Once I'd slipped into my running shoes and finished stretching, I was out the door, earbuds in, music turned up. As I broke from a steady jog to a run, I was in my own world entirely. I liked running in Colorado more because it wasn't as humid, it was more scenic, and much more of a challenge in the altitude, even for me. There were hills in Maxville, but it wasn't the same. Easier, but that meant I would have to work longer to get the same quality workout. I ran quickly past the streets and out towards the edge of town.

The street lamps ahead of me started to turn on and then it struck me. I was at the edge of a strange town, in the dark, by myself. _Oh brilliant.._

I stopped running and looked around. I was on an empty street the forest on one side, and above the edge of the town on the other. If I looked out over Maxville I could see the basic outline of the city. I started to head back towards my house and decided that running through the shadows of the trees while I could would be a good idea. I disappeared and felt myself running faster than I could have in the light. The shadows gave me power somehow. I knew that, I just wish I could actually do something better than just disappear. Oh well, it sure does come in handy at times. Before I got to the suburbs I reappeared, running normally. When my house came back into sight I slowed down into a jog so as to not hurt my muscles by stopping suddenly.

As I entered the house, I took off my shoes and placed them in the neat pile before going upstairs to my room. I closed the hatch behind me before walking into the bathroom and locking the door. I stripped off all my clothes and turned on the shower, turning to water to a lukewarm since I was still hot and sweaty from my run. I let my hair down before stepping hesitantly into the water. It was still a little too warm for my taste so I turned it down a little. The cool water felt AMAZING running down my hot skin. Once I felt myself cool down I turned up the water slightly before shampooing my hair and shaving. Once I finished, I put in conditioner and used my favorite coconut body scrub, turning up the water once more. My hair had a habit of growing at a ridiculous rate. I had to get it cut almost every other week or it would start to get annoyingly long. I didn't like to let it get too long because I felt I would remind my father and brothers of mom, and I knew it would make them sad. I personally didn't think I looked nearly as beautiful as she was but my father completely disagreed and my brothers wouldn't say anything because I knew they missed her just as much. So I keep it short. I preferred it that way anyway. Once I finished, I turned off the water shook my hair like a dog to get some of the water out. I got out of the shower, wrapping myself in a towel and darting from my bathroom to my walk in closet. I really hated not having curtains. I needed my privacy, badly.


	4. With or Without my Powers

**Please review and let me know what you think so far! I'm really excited that this story got its first follower and favorite! I have a bunch of ideas of the direction I want this story to go so please let me know which parts you liked so I know to keep it up. **

My deep slumber was rudely interrupted by my stereo blasting one of my mixed cds, set off by my alarm, rigged by Donnie a few years ago as a Christmas present. I looked at the clock which read 7:15. Time to get Danny up. Everybody took turns getting Danny ready for school while Dad was either out working, or downstairs making breakfast. I walked into my closet and threw on a tank top over my sports bra, but stayed in my long pajama pants. I ran a brush through my mop of hair which was somehow sticking up in every possible direction. I sluggishly made my way down to Danny's light blue room.

His little sleeping form was curled in his train shaped bed. While both my older brothers (mostly Donnie) preferred cars, Danny positively adored trains. He also loved planes, we had that in common too, and I had hung up some planes from his ceiling. He shifted a little as I called his name and gently shook his shoulder but refused to get up. I pulled the blanket back and called his name a little louder. He cracked open his sleepy eyes and groaned.

"Come on buddy, time to wake up. Second day of first grade!" that got nothing. "Dad's got breakfast going." THAT got his attention. I laughed and went to the light switch. "Incoming in 3…. 2…" Danny covered his eyes. "…1!" I announced and flipped the switch. The light turned on and Danny groaned.

I finally got him up and into the bathroom to wash his face, brush his teeth, and hair. As he was brushing his teeth I went to his closet and looked through his clothes to find something clean and matching for him. He didn't mind me picking his clothes because in his opinion I was just as stylish as any of the guys in the house. I picked out a pair of shorts, a batman t-shirt, socks, undies and a pair of laced sneakers since I had already taught him how to tie his shoes.

It was 7:25 when we entered the kitchen, Dad had two plates out with our breakfasts on them. Danny had a bowl of cookie crisp cereal, a plate with a few stripes of bacon, and a glass of milk. I had a plate of eggs and bacon and waffles with a glass of apple juice. We finished eating and I looked at the clock. 7:33.

"Hey buddy, time to get to the bus stop." I got up and handed him his Thomas the Tank Engine backpack. He took it and we walked out the door together. The bus was supposed to get to his stop at 7:40. It was only a five minute walk but the bus had gotten there early so we had made it just in time. Danny waved and hoped on the bus. I waved back and waited until the bus turned the corner down the street before walking back home.

When I got back to my room I went to my closet and pulled out a suitable outfit for school. I tossed it on my bed and went to the bathroom. I decided my hair actually looked good for once and didn't bother straightening or doing anything to it. Worse comes to worse I always have my lucky beanie with me. I didn't like to wear makeup very much but I would draw a single line of black eyeliner under each eye when I felt like it which I did. I brushed my teeth and put on my deodorant. Finally I went back out and grabbed my clothes before going back and stripping completely, then redressing in the days attire. Finally I sprayed my honeysuckle body spray and took in my appearance in the floor length mirror in my room. I was wearing black shorts with a blue and black studded belt, a long sleeved black and dark blue swirled shirt under a short sleeved pixilated cartoon star wars shirt. My checkered vans were down by the front door. I didn't look bad, not heart stopping beautiful but enough to maybe merit a second glance by a few. Not that I really gave a fuck, but hey, what's wrong with looking good for yourself? Absolutely nothing. The honeysuckle body spray was just noticeable and inhaling it made me think of my mother. She always smelled like honeysuckle.

I put my book and ipod in my bags side pocket and went downstairs. David and Donnie were already eating breakfast, David's book bag hanging off the barstool. David was dressed, ready for school while Donnie was in a pair of pajama pants and nothing else. Since he wasn't in school anymore he was probably going back to bed for a few more hours, lucky bastard, and was only up for Dads breakfast.

"Ali, time to go." David beckoned to the clock above the stove. It read 8:30

_Shit_.. I had totally zoned out. I grabbed my bag, slipped on my vans and ran down the block. I made it to the bus stop right as it came into view down the street. I fished out my headphones and pulled out my ipod, sticking them in and pressing play. Fortunate by the Cartel started playing in my ears and I silently sang along as I got on the sophomore bus. My brother and I had only taken the freshman bus the day before since we were transfers. Today however, we got stuck on different buses and of course, I didn't know anyone, so I sat by myself. Again.

A few songs later the bus landed on the floating school and we were free to wander around until the first bell rang, at 9:10. Then we would have 5 minutes to get to class before the late bell would ring at 9:15 signaling the start of class. It was currently 8:57. I decided to go find my locker, which I was given yesterday. Once I got it open after a few tries I opened it and found my schedule folded up neatly on top of my two pairs of gym clothes on the middle shelf, a utility belt hanging on a hook and my books on the top shelf. The lower shelf was left empty.

I started to unfold my schedule but before I could even catch a glimpse at it a sudden gush of wind passed and I was holding onto thin, paperless air. With a deep breath I reopened my eyes, which had darkened and I looked up at my locker, slammed it, and turned to face my opponent. Turns out, I had two of them. Without blinking or taking my eyes off them I walked calmly towards them with an air of power I knew I didn't actually possess, but I was pretty well practiced. When I arrived in front of the two bullies I looked them up and down, giving them a look as if to say '_that's it? Pathetic' _and shifted my weight onto my right hip. "Well?" I asked in a bored tone.

"Sup short stuff." The fat one tried to snark but it just didn't work.

"Looking for this?" a striped hand waved my folded up schedule in front of me, expecting me to grab at it. When I gave him a look as if to say '_duh you idiot,'_ instead of trying to take it from him, he scowled and stretched his arm far out of my reach. "Too bad." He sneered. "Sucks to be you."

I gave him a wicked grin and before he could blink delivered a lightning fast punch to his opposed stomach. Bending over, he quickly retracted his arm to clutch at it. As he was bent over I took my right arm, going past his right shoulder, hooking his neck and bringing it closer to the ground, using my right leg to kick out his legs and completely throwing off any remaining balance and sending him crashing to the floor on his side. I pushed him onto his back with my foot and leaned in closer.

"And that was without my powers." I said quietly, putting the extra emphasis on 'without' and snatching back my schedule. I stood up straight without breaking eye contact and finally turned away from his stunned expression and took in the familiar expressions around me. Speed was just staring, jaw dropped in disbelief. I maintained my uncaring appearance but inside I was extremely pleased with myself. I picked up my bag from the floor, shouldering it and walking confidently down the hall towards my homeroom, which was also my first class as I discovered after finally reading my schedule.


	5. Branching Out

**Here we go again! Another chapter! Please let me know what you think! **

As it turns out, I wasn't the first person to class. I recognized some of the kids from the previous day in homeroom. I remembered that some of them had some pretty sucky powers and guessed they were here early to avoid getting picked on. Guess I picked up on that plan a little late.. I walked towards the back of the room and dropped my bag on the floor by a desk in the corner. The purple chick nodded at me and a kid who looked like a tall light bulb walked over. He was smiling and had way too much energy this early in the morning.

"Hey! You're the new transfer kid right? Alickta?" he said my name kind of slower to make sure he got it right, which surprisingly he did. "I'm Zach! And that's Majenta and Ethan." He said, pointing to each in turn. I nodded to each in greeting. "Dude I saw you take down Lash, it was BAD. ASS!" he fist pumped the air above him.

I laughed "Thanks," I smiled. "I just wanted my schedule back."

"I wonder why _they_ wanted it in the first place." Majenta questioned.

I shrugged.. "Cause they're bullies, assholes, idiots," I started listing off names to describe them. "I dunno, take your pick." She smirked and shrugged in agreement as the first bell rang.

"So you really did that without using powers?" Ethan piped up from his textbook.

I looked past Zach's tall form and addressed the smaller boy. "Yeah. I live in a house with two older, and bigger brothers, so I know a thing or two about getting my stuff back."

He nodded in understanding. "Ah, I wish I could do that. I really don't like them. It really sucks that they were allowed back after last year." He said dejectedly.

I threw a questioning look at all three of them. Majenta sat down in front of me, behind Ethan and next to Zach. "Why don't we tell you at lunch and you can meet the rest of the gang?" Majenta asked. Zach nodded happily and Ethan offered me a small smile before turning back to the front of the room. People had been shuffling in and Mr. Boy had just closed the door to start class as the late bell rang. Since I didn't have anywhere else to sit besides with my brother and his friends which was kind of awkward and I wanted to hear this story, I agreed. I was actually kind of excited to have somewhere to sit and people to talk to who weren't just including me because I was David's little sister.

Don't get me wrong, I liked his friends, and they were pretty chill with me, but I still didn't quite fit in. They were all seniors and dressed from jeans and t-shirts, polos and kakis, and open flannels. Mostly light or pastel colors. Add a small darker clothed sophomore to the mix and it was a little strange. Then again, so was I, but they never really cared.

As Mr. Boy started our lesson on sidekick support vehicles I took out my sketch pad and zoned out. I already knew most of this from helping out in the garages growing up. By the end of the lesson I had a pretty nice sketch of the front of the school from the first day of class. As the bell rang I jolted from my daze and looked down. I took up my pencil which had been working on a shadow of a familiar striped boy next to his partner in crime. I hadn't been really paying attention to what I had been drawing and before I got the chance to really look I closed it up and put it in my bag, pulling out my schedule.

Leaving the class I blindly walked around until I found my next class, Hero History through the Ages. The professor was a nice older man with noticeable greying hair. He had that look about his face that he knew something you didn't and had a twinkle in his old grey eyes that lit up when he smiled. I knew as soon as he started the lesson that I was going to love this teacher. History may not be my best subject but having a good teacher was almost always a good sign. His name was Dr. Norman Sparks, but professor Sparks would suffice. He spent most of the class explaining how the class would be taught, how to do well and times he would be in early or late if we needed extra help or an explanation. Once he finished the basics he told us instead of starting our first lesson today, we would do it tomorrow. The last ten minutes of the class would be free time. After officially deciding that I loved this teacher I took out my sketch pad and flipped back to my previous sketch.

Taking the time to look closer I saw how some parts were only a rough outline while other parts were touched up and detailed. The girl with ice powers was in mid freeze and it looked cool. A cute couple sat under a tree smiling at each other. A bus was flying towards the school in the background. On top of the stairs toward the left of the page the two idiots stood together in a tough guy pose. I had spent considerably more effort on Lash, Zach said his name was, than his partner. I took up my pencil and started working on that area of the page. I didn't notice the approaching footsteps from behind until I felt myself enter a shadow. I turned to look at the source and found it was professor Sparks looking curiously down at my paper.

"Very interesting." He noted. "You have a talent there, miss..?"

"Donavin. Alickta Donavin." I answered.

"Ah," he nodded. "daughter of the Iron Knight." He stated more that questioned. I nodded just as the bell rang. "Better be going now, wouldn't want to miss your next class." He said, walking back to his desk.

I got up and went to Mad Science. _Mad Science? Oh this oughtta be good… _as if on cue the teacher turned around and I did a double take "Oh-Woah…" I backed away for a second and then regained composer, ignoring the few snickers from the rest of the class.

"Ah miss Donavin. I'm looking past this and your tardiness today, however do not make a habit of it. Take a seat. And try to be on time from now on."

I mumbled an apology and took a seat at the only desk with empty stools in the way back. I looked around and realized that all these kids were older than me. _Am I in the right class? _I wondered. I double checked my schedule and according to it I was in the right place, so why would I be the only sophomore here? My thoughts were interrupted by a gush of wind at the door. I looked up and groaned internally. The heavier of the two bullies was at the door, casually strolling in late.

"Mr. Favas, in the future I expect you to live up to your power and use it to be on time for a change." Professor Medulla addressed the boy in irritation. "Sit."

It only took me seconds to realize the only open seat was the one directly to my left. _Aw hell._

He noticed too and narrowed his eyes at me. Mr. Medulla started his introduction as my new deskmate sat down an immediately turned to face me. "What the hell are you doing in this class? You aren't a junior!" he questioned.

"Hell if I know! Wait, everyone in here is a junior?!" _What the fuck?_

"Yes Miss Donavin, you are in a junior level class because your previous education in this subject has already surpassed the entirety of sophomore level Mad Science. Therefore you have been placed in the hero/sidekick mixed junior level class." Mr. Medulla interrupted from the front of the class. "Now please stop talking and pay attention." He continued writing on the board.

I took out my notebook and started taking notes once he finished his brief introduction and began our first lesson. I ignored the goon next to me and he did the same. We both however tried objecting when Medulla announced that the person sitting next to us would be our lab partner for the rest of the semester. Unfortunately no matter how much we protested, the policy still stood.

Finally class ended and I followed the main crowd which was heading toward the cafeteria. Some people took their lunch outside or went to the workout room by the gym but the group I kept an eye out for called me over to their table inside the cafeteria by the window. Zach was jumping up and down ridiculously waving me over. Majenta shook her head but a small smile found its way to her lips at his goofiness. I walked over and sat down next to Majenta and Zach across from Ethan, back against the window on the end. The couple I saw under the tree in my sketch sat on the other side and a long, dark haired boy sat between them and Ethan.

"Hey guys, this is Alickta, she's the one who took on Lash this morning!" Zach announced to the table. I nodded hesitantly. Apparently this was a big deal.

"Hey, I'm Will, this is Layla," he gestured to the pretty red head next to him who waved and offered me a warm smile, "and this is Warren." He pointed to the guy next to him.

"Hey." I greeted everyone. "So what's the story you said you'd tell me?" I cut to the chase. Curiosity had been gnawing at me all morning.

They all looked at each other knowingly and finally after a few moments, Ethan exhaled and looked directly at me. "Well, last year.." he started.

**Sorry for the short chapter, I promise they will be getting longer! Right now I have a bunch of short chapters but they're progressively getting longer and longer so please stay tuned and let me know what you think! **


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